Sylvia Brown

[rob lester]

First let me say I love this site...Bear with me , long post

Ok , my wife watches Sylvia on Montel , she gets very upset with me because I say she is a scam.I really do not understand any of it , pet psychics , etc...Here is why I will never be convinced in near future.Whenever a nation wide news alert about missing children , or murders ( John boney Ramsey...spell check comes to mind ) where are these psychics?This is mainly aimed at sylvia , but any will do claiming that much power.I mean seriously , how hard would it be to pick up the phone and tell someone where they are before it is to late?I do not mean every single case ,but would you not think she would have a little spare time and heart to help a little?She gives out names of "murderers" on montel to people , have we had even one "update" if anyone caught?If these abilities were true and that strong , if I were her than the twin towers would have been standing today , numerous children would be home , numerous criminals would be off the streets....And I would run off of government funding , or donations and do it full time.Meaning ,if these powers true why make millions talking to dead relatives on tv shows when you could live comfortably helping a huge amount of people?....If you have not , just check her site with this in mind , anyones site for that matter..Please do not take offence to my beliefs , but they are based on facts.

Sylvia and her sons phone charges : Phone reading with Sylvia - $700

Phone reading with Chris - $400

A Phone consultation with Sylvia or Chris lasts approximately 20-30 minutes.

And to anyone being Psychic have you heard of the million dollars waiting for you?...Below detailed info on it....Its worth a try?

Magician and skeptic James (The Amazing) Randi has had a long-standing offer for any psychic to perform a paranormal act under controlled conditions. If the results meet mutually-agreed-to standards for success, a cash prize is to be awarded to the challenger. The prize started out as $10,000 of Randi's own money.

But many of the same psychics who do readings in their drawing room for 30 or 40 dollars a pop said that $10,000 for a single job was not worth their time and effort. (As an aside, some other psychics who do the same thing for a living haughtily announced that they weren't in it for the money. When it's pointed out that they can donate the money to charity if they wish, they simply pretend not to hear.)

So Randi turned to his many fans and supporters. He started an organization called the 2000 Club. Membership consisted of pledging a minimum of $1,000 in $1,000 increments to the Randi Challenge. As of this writing, the pledges stand at over 1.2 million dollars. The prize would now consist of a $10,000 check handed over on the spot, with the remainder collectable in pledges.

But the psychics complained that this was still not acceptable. It would be far too much work to collect the money from everyone, and not everybody would come through on their pledges. The job of collecting a potential one million dollars seemed pretty enticing to me, even if half the pledgers turned out to be welchers, but I guess my mind doesn't work like that of a psychic.

An anonymous philanthropist has made it possible for Randi to found the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). This donor has additionally provided one million dollars to be kept in an account specifically for the Randi prize. Therefore, in the interests of pleasing the psychics, the Randi Challenge was modified. A winning challenger would immediately get $10,000 of Randi's money, along with a check from the JREF for the remainder of the 1.2 million. Collecting from the pledgers would now be the JREF's problem.

Now the psychics expressed extreme skepticism that the JREF even had assets worth one million. (In fact, Randi's honesty seems to be the only subject the paranormalists are capable of working up any skepticism for.) At one point James Randi offered to make a $1,000 bet that the assets were there. He has indicated that there were no takers, despite repeated insistence by the psychics that the money is nonexistent.

The latest move to accommodate potential challengers was to place the funds in an account named The James Randi Educational Foundation Prize Account with the firm of Goldman, Sachs & Co. in the form of liquidatable bonds. Doubters were then invited to send a FAX to a certain number to receive confirmation that the one million dollars was really there.

Afterward, none of the highly vocal scoffers had said anything about having performed this simple and convenient research. So I went ahead and sent a FAX. I got back this letter on Goldman Sachs letterhead, signed by a Naomi C. Shapiro, confirming the presence of one million dollars in liquid assets.

At this point, I expect the psychics to charge that the letter is a forgery, either on my part, or on the part of the JREF. One imagines Goldman Sachs would vigorously prosecute anyone distributing incorrect financial information on their letterhead. This would be a tremendous risk to run, especially for the simple purpose of trying to shut up a few obnoxious loudmouths. If the psychics could investigate this matter, and manage to expose fraud on the part of the JREF, there should be little doubt that they would eagerly set out to do so. Bringing The Amazing Randi down in humiliating defeat is the kind of fantasy that fires their imaginations at night.

Anyone paying attention will certainly see a pattern here. The paranormalists will never be satisfied no matter what attempts are made to address their supposed concerns.

A small number of genuinely self-deluded individuals have agreed to take the Randi Challenge, and invaryingly failed. But the biggest majority of those who boast of paranormal abilities avoid the Challenge like the plague. Some disregard the entry rules, and make up their own counter-challenge (Their rules - Randi's money). Randi sensibly ignores them. Then they crow that Randi is excluding them from the Psychic Challenge, but in truth they never accepted the existing Challenge, only another of their own invention involving none of their own money.

Or they simply deny that the Challenge is legitimate. Arguments that the best way to prove this assertion is to take the Challenge and win are like water off a duck's back.

Why do believers in psychic phenomena do this? Because they have to. A universe in which paranormal effects abound cannot be the same universe in which a one million dollar Psychic Challenge lies unclaimed for many years. This is the whole point of the Challenge.

Fans of the paranormal delight in portraying skeptics as being like ostriches with their heads in the sand, carefully avoiding any kind of research which might contradict their beliefs. But it's a widely-recognized fact that we tend to expect others to do as we do. I've never heard of a psychic actually investigating whether the prize money for the Randi Challenge was really there, even after Randi has made it very easy to research this. I hear nothing but their repetitive, loudly-proclaimed doubts about the existence of the money.

There's a phrase for this.

It's called willful ignorance.

[QUICKY]

Alot of phychics do help with police cases and with the government.

[rob lester]

I have heard that ,in forums and internet...Please show me proof i.e...Police reports , statements confirmed from detectives , etc...Not being rude , but show me facts.

Uncritical news reports and pseudocumentaries continue to tout the alleged successes of "psychics" who supposedly assist law enforcement agencies in solving crimes or locating missing persons. Exaggerated claims notwithstanding, most police departments (72% according to researchers) have not used psychics (Durm and Sweat 1994). And of those who have, few have done so officially or claim significant success for them.

Most experienced police seem to recognize the basic trick of psychics, called retrofitting. This involves tossing out several vague "clues" (such as a number, a mention of "water," etc.) which are then interpreted to fit the true facts after they become known. But psychics are not merely ineffectual; they actually harm investigations by misdirecting police efforts -- for example by having them drag rivers, search rugged areas, dig up yards, and drain ponds, typically to no avail. Following are 20 selected case studies of such wasted efforts, presented chronologically:

As these examples show, psychics are a hindrance rather than an aid to police. In fact, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a branch of the Department of Justice, states there is not a single documented instance of anyone finding a missing child through the use of psychic power. (Marder 1994.) The same is true of crime solving. No longer should self-styled psychics be given credit for the difficult work done by law enforcement personnel.

source : http://www.parascope.com/en/articles/psychicSleuths.htm

Edited January 22, 2006 by rob lester

[leecurtin]

removed all my views.... rob told me i would get kicked lol

neways... i do not think it is tru

Edited January 22, 2006 by leecurtin

[Goingcrazy]

I agree, Sylvia Brown is vile.

[Blue Unicorn]

I used to think Sylvia Browne was cool. But we're all naive when we're young, right? ^^'

Thanks for this information, rob.

[Unlimited]

I read a few of her books she isnt all bad...

[The Skeptic Eric Raven]

I read a few of her books she isnt all bad...

She preys on the people who need hope. I am sure there will be a special place in hell if it exists.

[Taylor]

I think she's fake. She's annoying when she picks her teeth with her fake nails.

[ImOne]

I can't comment on Ms. Brown because I know little about her. What I can tell you is there is plenty of evidence for psychic phenomena. If you haven't found it you are simply looking in the wrong place or refuse to accept the truth.

[The Skeptic Eric Raven]

I can't comment on Ms. Brown because I know little about her. What I can tell you is there is plenty of evidence for psychic phenomena. If you haven't found it you are simply looking in the wrong place or refuse to accept the truth.

Well the right place would be through scientific testing but no one wants that.

[ImOne]

Well the right place would be through scientific testing but no one wants that.

This is only a belief many people have. Like many other false beliefs it is reinforced through repetition. If you take a look you will find what you want. Evidence is available. Plenty of it.

[LyCaN123]

nice i dont she has these phsycic abilities iether but i do belive in phsycics but not this 1

Edited February 17, 2006 by LyCaN123

[astrochick]

I used to think she was cool at first, but she has such an attitude with people at times.I don't think she is a fake. I just think she could be more compassionate with the people she reads.

[Dazey]

I have heard that ,in forums and internet...Please show me proof i.e...Police reports , statements confirmed from detectives , etc...Not being rude , but show me facts.

Rob,

While I agree with you that many, if not most, psychics are dishonest scammers, ther have been cases where a psychic was able to solve a crime. In fact, I just read a book recently where one did find the body of a murder victim. She didn't charge money, of course. I do agree that these are very rare. I'll try and find the title of the book for you. I think you can find a lot on smokinggun, as well.

Most experienced police seem to recognize the basic trick of psychics, called retrofitting. This involves tossing out several vague "clues" (such as a number, a mention of "water," etc.) which are then interpreted to fit the true facts after they become known. But psychics are not merely ineffectual; they actually harm investigations by misdirecting police efforts -- for example by having them drag rivers, search rugged areas, dig up yards, and drain ponds, typically to no avail. Following are 20 selected case studies of such wasted efforts, presented chronologically:

As these examples show, psychics are a hindrance rather than an aid to police. In fact, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a branch of the Department of Justice, states there is not a single documented instance of anyone finding a missing child through the use of psychic power. (Marder 1994.) The same is true of crime solving. No longer should self-styled psychics be given credit for the difficult work done by law enforcement personnel.

Many police agree with you, for good reason. As I've stated, it's nearly impossible to find a true psychic, one that isn't interested in profitting from doing it. Even then, they'll tell you themselves, it doesn't always work.

As for the Sylvia thing.. that your wife watches. That's just.. that women is one of the scammers in my opinion. It's sickening to me that so many desperate people are willing to pay so much money to some person on the phone that knows how to "read" what she's saying well enough.. that is, what the customer is saying. Those people should be put out of business. People go broke using those idiots.

I honestly cannot stand TV psychics.

Dazey

[MDH]

Would you like a Derek Acorah with that, Sir?

-MDH

[a**A_9]

First let me say I love this site...Bear with me , long post

Ok , my wife watches Sylvia on Montel , she gets very upset with me because I say she is a scam.I really do not understand any of it , pet psychics , etc...Here is why I will never be convinced in near future.Whenever a nation wide news alert about missing children , or murders ( John boney Ramsey...spell check comes to mind ) where are these psychics?This is mainly aimed at sylvia , but any will do claiming that much power.I mean seriously , how hard would it be to pick up the phone and tell someone where they are before it is to late?I do not mean every single case ,but would you not think she would have a little spare time and heart to help a little?She gives out names of "murderers" on montel to people , have we had even one "update" if anyone caught?If these abilities were true and that strong , if I were her than the twin towers would have been standing today , numerous children would be home , numerous criminals would be off the streets....And I would run off of government funding , or donations and do it full time.Meaning ,if these powers true why make millions talking to dead relatives on tv shows when you could live comfortably helping a huge amount of people?....If you have not , just check her site with this in mind , anyones site for that matter..Please do not take offence to my beliefs , but they are based on facts.

Sylvia and her sons phone charges : Phone reading with Sylvia - $700

Phone reading with Chris - $400

A Phone consultation with Sylvia or Chris lasts approximately 20-30 minutes.

And to anyone being Psychic have you heard of the million dollars waiting for you?...Below detailed info on it....Its worth a try?

Magician and skeptic James (The Amazing) Randi has had a long-standing offer for any psychic to perform a paranormal act under controlled conditions. If the results meet mutually-agreed-to standards for success, a cash prize is to be awarded to the challenger. The prize started out as $10,000 of Randi's own money.

But many of the same psychics who do readings in their drawing room for 30 or 40 dollars a pop said that $10,000 for a single job was not worth their time and effort. (As an aside, some other psychics who do the same thing for a living haughtily announced that they weren't in it for the money. When it's pointed out that they can donate the money to charity if they wish, they simply pretend not to hear.)

So Randi turned to his many fans and supporters. He started an organization called the 2000 Club. Membership consisted of pledging a minimum of $1,000 in $1,000 increments to the Randi Challenge. As of this writing, the pledges stand at over 1.2 million dollars. The prize would now consist of a $10,000 check handed over on the spot, with the remainder collectable in pledges.

But the psychics complained that this was still not acceptable. It would be far too much work to collect the money from everyone, and not everybody would come through on their pledges. The job of collecting a potential one million dollars seemed pretty enticing to me, even if half the pledgers turned out to be welchers, but I guess my mind doesn't work like that of a psychic.

An anonymous philanthropist has made it possible for Randi to found the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). This donor has additionally provided one million dollars to be kept in an account specifically for the Randi prize. Therefore, in the interests of pleasing the psychics, the Randi Challenge was modified. A winning challenger would immediately get $10,000 of Randi's money, along with a check from the JREF for the remainder of the 1.2 million. Collecting from the pledgers would now be the JREF's problem.

Now the psychics expressed extreme skepticism that the JREF even had assets worth one million. (In fact, Randi's honesty seems to be the only subject the paranormalists are capable of working up any skepticism for.) At one point James Randi offered to make a $1,000 bet that the assets were there. He has indicated that there were no takers, despite repeated insistence by the psychics that the money is nonexistent.

The latest move to accommodate potential challengers was to place the funds in an account named The James Randi Educational Foundation Prize Account with the firm of Goldman, Sachs & Co. in the form of liquidatable bonds. Doubters were then invited to send a FAX to a certain number to receive confirmation that the one million dollars was really there.

Afterward, none of the highly vocal scoffers had said anything about having performed this simple and convenient research. So I went ahead and sent a FAX. I got back this letter on Goldman Sachs letterhead, signed by a Naomi C. Shapiro, confirming the presence of one million dollars in liquid assets.

At this point, I expect the psychics to charge that the letter is a forgery, either on my part, or on the part of the JREF. One imagines Goldman Sachs would vigorously prosecute anyone distributing incorrect financial information on their letterhead. This would be a tremendous risk to run, especially for the simple purpose of trying to shut up a few obnoxious loudmouths. If the psychics could investigate this matter, and manage to expose fraud on the part of the JREF, there should be little doubt that they would eagerly set out to do so. Bringing The Amazing Randi down in humiliating defeat is the kind of fantasy that fires their imaginations at night.

Anyone paying attention will certainly see a pattern here. The paranormalists will never be satisfied no matter what attempts are made to address their supposed concerns.

A small number of genuinely self-deluded individuals have agreed to take the Randi Challenge, and invaryingly failed. But the biggest majority of those who boast of paranormal abilities avoid the Challenge like the plague. Some disregard the entry rules, and make up their own counter-challenge (Their rules - Randi's money). Randi sensibly ignores them. Then they crow that Randi is excluding them from the Psychic Challenge, but in truth they never accepted the existing Challenge, only another of their own invention involving none of their own money.

Or they simply deny that the Challenge is legitimate. Arguments that the best way to prove this assertion is to take the Challenge and win are like water off a duck's back.

Why do believers in psychic phenomena do this? Because they have to. A universe in which paranormal effects abound cannot be the same universe in which a one million dollar Psychic Challenge lies unclaimed for many years. This is the whole point of the Challenge.

Fans of the paranormal delight in portraying skeptics as being like ostriches with their heads in the sand, carefully avoiding any kind of research which might contradict their beliefs. But it's a widely-recognized fact that we tend to expect others to do as we do. I've never heard of a psychic actually investigating whether the prize money for the Randi Challenge was really there, even after Randi has made it very easy to research this. I hear nothing but their repetitive, loudly-proclaimed doubts about the existence of the money.

There's a phrase for this.

It's called willful ignorance.

hey man im with you the trick is a scam for real

[stargazer123]

I have heard that ,in forums and internet...Please show me proof i.e...Police reports , statements confirmed from detectives , etc...Not being rude , but show me facts.

Uncritical news reports and pseudocumentaries continue to tout the alleged successes of "psychics" who supposedly assist law enforcement agencies in solving crimes or locating missing persons. Exaggerated claims notwithstanding, most police departments (72% according to researchers) have not used psychics (Durm and Sweat 1994). And of those who have, few have done so officially or claim significant success for them.

Most experienced police seem to recognize the basic trick of psychics, called retrofitting. This involves tossing out several vague "clues" (such as a number, a mention of "water," etc.) which are then interpreted to fit the true facts after they become known. But psychics are not merely ineffectual; they actually harm investigations by misdirecting police efforts -- for example by having them drag rivers, search rugged areas, dig up yards, and drain ponds, typically to no avail. Following are 20 selected case studies of such wasted efforts, presented chronologically:

As these examples show, psychics are a hindrance rather than an aid to police. In fact, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a branch of the Department of Justice, states there is not a single documented instance of anyone finding a missing child through the use of psychic power. (Marder 1994.) The same is true of crime solving. No longer should self-styled psychics be given credit for the difficult work done by law enforcement personnel.

source : http://www.parascope.com/en/articles/psychicSleuths.htm

Have you ever watched a show called, "Psychic detectives?" It is a show with real law enforcement that have solved cases with the aid of psychics. I believe it comes on after forensic files same channel.

[Apple]

Alot of people have a bad habit of of yelling "BAD LIAR! NO PSYCHIC, NOT YOU!" When an actual psychic steps into the light (this may be because of shows like Most Haunted.)

But consider this, while Most Haunted (proven a falsity) is a televised show with script and such, these people go on talk shows, where there are real people in the audiance. Now I can see how it could be a set up, I mean, it's not that difficult to pay an audiance memeber to act like what Ms. Brown is saying is true, but she has nationwide recognition. How can she be so accurate, you wonder? I've met a very powerful psychic, an old black lady named Mrs. Holmes, living in the rual area of my lovely Georgia. Shes an Automatic writer with an annoying ability to see into very personal aspects of your life, and to see what you have ahead of you, in very vivid detail.

My mother use to visit her, the few times I went, Mama brought back a piece of paper Mrs. Holmes had written on, whole sentences explaining what would happen, and sure enough, it did. If she became a nationwide psychic, she would get there by being right, by gaining enough recognition through her acuracy.

So many people have taken regualar joes off the street, put a camera in their face and said "Be psychic!", that the idea of psychic ability seems so much more far-fetched then it should. Why is it so hard to accept the fact the we exsist as a part of nature, connected to everything and everyone around us? Why is it so hard to believe that some of us are more sensitive to that connection, that we feel things or know things or see things in a different way. Just because we don't use our ears or our eyes or our hands to feel these things, dosen't mean it's not there, and it dosn't mean it's not worth recognition.

Throughout history mankind has searched for truth, hard evidence that something exsists or doesn't exsist, never thinking for a moment that it seems almost impossible to get physical proof on something that is not physical. Nothing is limited to this world, we are not the only things in the vast, endless, mindblowing expanse of a universe.

Knowledge is just a level of our understanding of our ignorance. Looking at all the things we do know, imagine what we've left to discover.

I just feel like it does't matter how much proof we have, we are going to feel like we need more and more and more until we can make it physical, and touch it and study it, but we can't do that....some things are not physical.

I hope nobody takes this as being rude, it's not my intent, I swear it, this is just my view of the situation, an observation if you will. I get a little passionate about these things.

I'm not saying that having physical proof isn't good, or that physcial proof isn't sometimes needed, I'm just saying that, when you think about it, there will never be physical proof for some of these things, and that is what I've come to accept.

Edited March 8, 2006 by Apple

[wolfheart1]

I agree, Sylvia Brown is vile.

the women looks evil and rude . She's obviously only after money...

[Imaginary Friend]

Sylvia Brown

The Sylvia Brown Scam

[ShaunZero]

Alot of people have a bad habit of of yelling "BAD LIAR! NO PSYCHIC, NOT YOU!" When an actual psychic steps into the light (this may be because of shows like Most Haunted.)

But consider this, while Most Haunted (proven a falsity) is a televised show with script and such, these people go on talk shows, where there are real people in the audiance. Now I can see how it could be a set up, I mean, it's not that difficult to pay an audiance memeber to act like what Ms. Brown is saying is true, but she has nationwide recognition. How can she be so accurate, you wonder? I've met a very powerful psychic, an old black lady named Mrs. Holmes, living in the rual area of my lovely Georgia. Shes an Automatic writer with an annoying ability to see into very personal aspects of your life, and to see what you have ahead of you, in very vivid detail.

My mother use to visit her, the few times I went, Mama brought back a piece of paper Mrs. Holmes had written on, whole sentences explaining what would happen, and sure enough, it did. If she became a nationwide psychic, she would get there by being right, by gaining enough recognition through her acuracy.

So many people have taken regualar joes off the street, put a camera in their face and said "Be psychic!", that the idea of psychic ability seems so much more far-fetched then it should. Why is it so hard to accept the fact the we exsist as a part of nature, connected to everything and everyone around us? Why is it so hard to believe that some of us are more sensitive to that connection, that we feel things or know things or see things in a different way. Just because we don't use our ears or our eyes or our hands to feel these things, dosen't mean it's not there, and it dosn't mean it's not worth recognition.

Throughout history mankind has searched for truth, hard evidence that something exsists or doesn't exsist, never thinking for a moment that it seems almost impossible to get physical proof on something that is not physical. Nothing is limited to this world, we are not the only things in the vast, endless, mindblowing expanse of a universe.

Knowledge is just a level of our understanding of our ignorance. Looking at all the things we do know, imagine what we've left to discover.

I just feel like it does't matter how much proof we have, we are going to feel like we need more and more and more until we can make it physical, and touch it and study it, but we can't do that....some things are not physical.

I hope nobody takes this as being rude, it's not my intent, I swear it, this is just my view of the situation, an observation if you will. I get a little passionate about these things.

I'm not saying that having physical proof isn't good, or that physcial proof isn't sometimes needed, I'm just saying that, when you think about it, there will never be physical proof for some of these things, and that is what I've come to accept.

Excellent post! And so true. I've stressed this alot. How do you get hard proof of something that is not physical? [human spirit]

[Rosemary Campbell]

I can't comment on Ms. Brown because I know little about her. What I can tell you is there is plenty of evidence for psychic phenomena. If you haven't found it you are simply looking in the wrong place or refuse to accept the truth.

Thank you.

The ones who trash Sylvia Browne and other Psychics are a bunch of no nothings who sit on their behinds and refuse to develop their own Psychic Abilities and search for the proof they keep whining about.

I believe anyone who applies themselves can learn to become Psychics and then they will know how hard it is to deal with people like I am reading on here who keep trashing Psychics.

Are you jealous of the Fees you say she earns?

Well if you have the fortitude to develop your own Psychic Abilities perhaps you can book yourself onto some of those shows and people will throw rotten tomatoes at you and then you will know what it feels like.

All you have to do to develop your own Psychic Abilities and learn how to do this see what it feels like to deal with mean people is to read the books written by Super Psychic Edgar Cayce and Spiritual Writer Ruth Montgomery and spend hours learning how to whet your psychic Abilities and I almost guarantee you in a very short time you will be seeing, talking to and doing automatic Writing with Guides beyond the Veil of Death.

You don't have to be a super brain to be a Psychic all you need is determination and staying power.

[Rykster]

If she has no qualms about charging $700 per 1/2 hour for a reading, then why would it be against her nature to just pick the winning Powerball numbers and retire? What a load of baloney.

If she doesn't like what I have to say, then let her call me and tell me so. She can figure out my number for herself.

[Bio-Mage]

Sylvia brown is a prime example on people who prey on human insecurities to make money. Like we dont have enough of that already...